The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) has brought back the National Playwriting Competition (NPC) which gives persons, young and old, the opportunity to share their writing talent to potentially win a monetary prize and have their play produced. In celebration of Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee, entries are being invited for plays written around the theme ‘Majesty’, whatever the writer’s interpretation of that word may be.
The National Playwriting Competition was created in 1990 by Henry Muttoo, CNCF Artistic Director, who recently retired after 33 years of service to the arts and culture community. Under his direction 50-plus Caymanian stage plays now form part of Cayman’s collection of original literature. Some of the scripts are available, on request to the Foundation, for use by educational institutions as learning resources.
Open until 28 April, the competition is for all Caymanians and persons domiciled in the Cayman Islands, excluding playwriting workshop tutors, playwriting competition judges and staff of CNCF. There are two competition categories:
Category 1
AGE 17 & UNDER – Individual school-attending children, school groups, and others age 17 and under. Anyone who has attained the age of 18 but is still attending school must enter in the adult category. Submissions may be made as:
- Skits, which shall be 10 to 20 minutes in playing time OR
- One-act plays, which shall be 30 to 45 minutes long.
Category 2
AGE 18 & OVER – those persons aged 18 and over, whether attending school or not. Plays submitted in this category may be either:
- One-act – 30 minutes to 1 hour in length
- Full length – an hour and a half to two hours in playing time.
One winning play from either category will be selected for production as a radio play to be broadcast on-air. If CNCF concludes that the production of a radio play is not possible, a staged reading of the winning script will be presented by CNCF.
“Given this exceptional opportunity to have their scripts brought to life in performance, we look forward to Cayman’s writers and aspiring playwrights taking to their keyboards to develop either an idea that might have been brewing for a while, or a brand new flash of inspiration, and submitting their scripts in time for the April 28th deadline,” said Marcia Muttoo, CNCF Managing Director.
Trophies and certificates will be awarded in each category, along with the following cash prizes:
AGE 17 AND UNDER
Best Skit – $100
Best One-Act – $300
AGE 18 AND OVER
1st Prize One-Act – $500
1st Prize Full Length – $800
The National Playwriting Competition started in 1990 and continued for 15 years until 2004, when Hurricane Ivan put the Harquail Theatre out of commission for three years. Over that period, the competition offered both training, through the National Playwriting Workshops, and incentives to young writers to creatively explore ideas or issues which concern or appeal to them, using the discipline of writing for the stage.
Past winners include Donna Tull-Cox (Breaking In, Fat Chance, De Honeymoon Over), Dr. Stephen Pickering (Happy New Year, The Weakend), Lennon Christian (The Navigation Tree) and Charles D. Bush (My Brother’s Keeper, Secondary Colours). They each worked to hone their skill as writers, developing their ideas and having the opportunity to experience their scripts being brought to life as theatrical productions.
The 1st place full-length play that was scheduled for the stage when Ivan hit was Pat Bent’s Isabel, which the Foundation initially produced as a radio series on Radio Cayman and eventually at the Harquail Studio as part of CNCF’s Young-At-Arts Summer Intensive programme. Earlier winning scripts, De Honeymoon Over and Fat Chance have also been presented on the radio, to enthusiastic public response.
For more information about the National Playwriting Competition, email [email protected], call 949.5477 or visit https://artscayman.org/special-events/.
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